Commanders Post at The Warpath - Ricky Williams is retiring

Speaking of Robert Smith, he says that Ricky Williams told him back in June that he was going to retire after this season. Supposedly Williams told a lot of people in the Dolphins organization as well as his own managers, advisors etc. that he was going to retire following this season. The more they told him how dumb he'd be to do that the more upset he got and decided to retire right now.

From the Miami Herald:

[QUOTE]Williams said he would tell people he was thinking about retiring, and they would try to dissuade him or call him an idiot or just start yelling at him. His agents, his handlers, his coaches and too many people with vested interests who Williams thought were his friends kept trying to pull Williams back, but all they did in the end was push him away -- all the way to another country, all the way out of football.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE]''They made me quit that much faster,'' Williams said. 'I don't respond to being told I shouldn't. It makes me want to do those things more. I don't believe in `shouldn't.' You should make a list and try some of the things you haven't just because other people think you shouldn't. You'll feel better, freer. Everybody was being so selfish, thinking that I shouldn't retire for their reasons instead of really listening to mine. I kept saying I'd be happier without football, but they didn't seem to hear that part. I'm convinced about this. I'm not coming back.''[/QUOTE]